Strange
by Kyla45
Summary: Enter Rukia. "Yeah, and we'll be strange together." Oneshot. Ichigo POV. Rukia & Ichigo.


It was something, nothing like physical attraction, or even emotional attraction, that pulled me towards the strange girl. It was just something.

Her hair was in disarray around her head, and yet it looked primp and neat all the same. She had this look about her, like she was ready to face the toughest obstacle with suavity and be almost bored throughout the ordeal.

Oddly enough, that was what her face said. It spoke of boredom. And she just wandered lazily into my personal bubble, glancing around, her lips pursed ever so slightly.

What she wore wasn't in attempt, at least it seemed to me, for attention. It was nothing like wanting to fit into the mold of a certain group or style, she simply wore what she wanted. And for all that, she looked good.

There was no makeup present on her midnight skin, and her legs were firmly fitted with a sort of skin-tight material. She wore high boots reaching midway to her shin, not flashy at all, but an earthy brown that matched the material on her legs. Then a light coat, a faded orange color, jutted out around her small figure similar to the fashion of an 'Alice in Wonderland' type dress, not quite the typical length of standard dresses. Not that I would know about that kind of thing, but I did have two sisters.

In any case, she simply trotted into my world, to the old worn down wall part of the abandoned building attached to the muddy ground I'd all claimed as my own. She just came, meandering through the mud, not caring about her boots as they sloshed subtly.

She came to stand beside me, leaning against the wall, looking away into the surrounding trees and overgrown foliage. She also seemed to be braving the rain like me, even though she held a deep navy umbrella.

At first I glared a hole into her head. Her mouth twitched, and she suppressed a yawn. My annoyance grew and grew. Her hair was dripping wet and the water ran down in tiny rivets from the strands to her cheeks and over he eyes.

Who was this strange girl, and why was she just standing there, on my territory? There were little blades of grass struggling in patches, and their green coloring was almost in violent contrast to her orange shaded attire and her raven black hair.

The cracks in the wall behind me seemed less interesting then they usually were, even the big chunk missing from the one corner. She instead was the object of my gaze. My glare, admittedly, maybe couldn't be called a gaze at all, but my eyes still belonged to her for the moment.

I continued glaring, wanting her to leave now. No one was allowed here. It was mine.

So startled was I by her voice, that my eyes widened dramatically, stupidly.

" What are you staring at?" she demanded, her voice fiery and lively, so different than the outer exterior and her bored facade. She whipped her head around and gave me a glare of her own before sticking out her tongue at me.

She then proceeded to turn her attention back to the surroundings.

" What do you mean what am I staring at? You're the one standing here! What the hell are you doing here anyway? Get lost, nobody comes here."

The image of her pink tongue mocking me fanned the flames of my annoyance.

" You're here."

I felt like yelling. Fleetingly, I was surprised that such a strange girl was getting me to react in such a way. I was, usually enough, calm and detached. And now I was arguing heatedly with a stranger.

" I'm here because this place is _mine_, this is the one place that's suppose to be quiet. So just go away."

" I was being quiet. I can be quiet."

" You were not being quiet, you were the one who spoke up in the first place!"

" Yeah, because you were trying to kill me with your eyes," she scoffed. " I didn't like it. People trying to kill me with their eyes make me uncomfortable, and they piss me off."

I was having trouble now, controlling this blinding urge to throw her into the air so that she'd soar to the moon and never come back. If I were strong enough, I was sure I would have already done it by now.

" Just, get out," I gritted through my teeth.

I was starting to notice just how much better she looked when her face wasn't so bored.

" I don't want to," she said lightly now, defiance still thick in her voice. " Besides, I like this place."

" Well, it's my place, so you're going to have to leave regardless."

She got this horrible condescending look on her face, a smug sort of look that meant, universally, she was up to no good.

" Why don't we make a deal? I'll share my umbrella if you let me share this place with you."

I didn't even consider it.

" No," I said flatly.

The more she argued with me, now insulting me as she went along, the more I noticed the slight chill creeping up on me, the uncomfortable wetness of my light clothing and the ugly rain clouds that didn't seem to be letting up.

" Ugh!" I grunted loudly. " Fine, alright you damn idiot? _Fine._"

She smiled then, not sweetly like how those girls in romantic films smile, but a raw, teasing, genuine smile.

The strange girl opened her umbrella, moving to stand closer to me than she previously was, and held the shelter over my head as well. We took surprisingly lax positions against the wall and stared absent mindedly up at the gray sky.

Now and again I saw little droplets on her eyelashes and lingering dew in her hair. I knew my own hair must have been dripping rain as well, but I couldn't very well look at my own hair.

" What's you name, anyway?" I asked, slightly disgruntled that I had given up my place and allowed someone in.

" I'm Rukia. And, what about you, fool?"

It seemed she had stuck to the word 'fool' when insulting me. I almost groaned at the new 'nickname.'

" It's Ichigo."

" Really? Isn't that a girl's name?" she spoke with false innocence in her voice.

That did it, and I was on a triad as soon as the last syllable left her lips. She chuckled, calling me a fool once again, assuring me that she understood the explanation of my name.

I huffed at her, resisting the urge to growl out some profanities.

As I calmed myself, I noticed that within the shelter of her umbrella, it was warm. A pleasant temperature surrounded me – us – while outside it still remained noticeably colder.

I heard her hefty sigh, and without turning to look at her, I asked what her problem was now.

" I'm bored," she said lightly, the whine barely audible in her voice.

I chose not to get involved with this conversation..

" I've never really explored that forest before...hey, let's go."

I mentally groaned. " It's raining right now."

" Yeah, but I wanna go."

" Well, I don't."

" But, if not today..." there was some uncertainty in her voice. Like even though I had let her into my place, agreed to share, I wouldn't ever acknowledge her presence from today on. Like I wouldn't be here all the time anyway. Like I wasn't drawn to her.

" Look, we can go some other time; when it's not so miserable out. Happy now, idiot?"

Her face lit up, and she smacked me upside the head, growling out a playful 'fool, don't insult me.'

We fell silent again, and she made a hole in the muddy ground with her boot, her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to keep the running mud out of her hole. Due to the close proximity and her movements, her arm sometimes brushed mine.

In a weird way, the contact wasn't strained, intended or embarrassed, and even though I'd just met her, it felt sort of, well, natural.

" What the hell are you doing that for?" I wasn't really curious.

" 'Cause."

I sighed. " Right." What a strange girl.

So I stared out at the world around us, wondering if she'd be here tomorrow. Not that I really cared. But seeing as it was my place, I wondered.

I also wondered if letting her in somehow made this 'our' place now. I almost laughed. As if.

The comfortable silence stretched on, and on a whim, to distract myself that I had just thought this to be _comfortable_, I voiced what I'd been thinking for a while.

" You're so strange," I commented.

She looked, facially, unaffected. But, she stopped digging her hole in the mud and looked up at me with bright eyes.

" Yeah, and we'll be strange together."

It shocked me, to hear the sincerity and ease at which those words were spoken with.

" What are you talking– "

She elbowed me in the ribs (it actually hurt, a little) and then smugly grinned at me, her eyes alight with _something._

" Well, you're weird too. Hell, you're the weirdest kid I've ever met. But I'm strange too, I guess. So we'll be strange together."

" I'm not weird, and I'm not a kid, and who said anything about sinking to your strange-ass level?" I was indignant, and I spouted on a little more about things I don't remember saying, because her words made me feel _something._ It wasn't some mushy, crushing feeling. It was just a light, careless, barely present something.

" Fool, you've already sunk." And then she laughed. That same rawness shining through. I found myself appreciating her and that unrefined aura she emitted.

I grunted. " Yeah, yeah."

I wondered again if she would be here tomorrow. I wondered if the weather would permit that 'exploration' of the forest she wanted to partake in. I pondered it all without thinking normal things like 'do people do these things after having just met?' and 'what happened to having a personal bubble?'

I wondered about all these things, not realizing that as time wore on I would get so used to her that her presence would become as natural as breathing.

Above all, I certainly didn't realize that we would be 'strange together,' despite my adamance towards the idea, for a very long time.

And so, as they (whoever they are) say:

**Enter Rukia. **

The strange girl who became even stranger, and ever precious to me, in a strange way.

* * *

I really, really love this one. I was looking for a more 'abstract' feel, if you will, and it's totally the first AU Bleach ficcy I've ever written. I sorely apologize for any OOCness, but, man, I couldn't help myself with this ficlet. I circled around the idea that Ichigo is just more natural with Rukia. Does anyone notice how he's almost subdued at school? I mean, he doesn't burst out yelling or calling people idiots with as much freedom as he does with Rukia, if he does at all. He's careful around Inoue, and mostly everyone. I don't know folks. It's an observation I made, going on memory here (I need to catch up on my Bleach!) does anyone agree with me? Ah, care to tell me what you thought about this? Was it not deserving of my love? Oh ho. Feedback is just so wondrous. (smile)

Mucho love!


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